Seed separator and grader



W. V. V AN ETTEN.

SEED SEPARATOR AND GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26, 1919.

1,385,957, Y Patented July 26, 1921. 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Fig.1 11 17 3 ia INVENTOR, 1? yin/"612%,, qa/M, 8.

b TTORNEY;

w. v. VAN ETTEN.

SEED SEPARATOR AND GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26, 1919.

Patented July 26, 1921'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- a/bwmrwz 81%;,

IN V EN TOR.

BY%Q/I/L OL (S ATTORNEY.

WILLIAM V. VAN ETTEIIJOF BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON.

SEED SEPAEATOR AND GRADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1921.

Application filed December 26, 1919. Serial No. 347,388.

T all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, TTLLIAM V- VAN Er,

TEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bellingham, in thecounty of lVliatcoIn and State of Washington, have invented a new anduseful Seed Separator and Grader, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in seed separators and graders, andthe objects of my improvements are to produce a seed separator that willmake a definite, complete and rapid separation of the several usefulseeds and grains on a basis of their size and shape, divide theseparated grains into several grades on a basis of their size,completely remove all chafi and dirt without loss of seed, provide astructure in which the principal operative parts are within aninclosure, and to provide other novel and useful features as willhereinafter appear.

I accomplish these objects by the use of the mechanism illustrated intheaccompany ing two sheets of drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan viewof my separator, Fig. 2 is an elevational. view of the right-hand sideof said separator, Fig. 3 isa rear elevation of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a planview of the lower riddle, and its sieves, Jig. 5 is a side elevation ofa part of Pigs in section. on the line 55, Fig. 6 is a sectional view ofa part of Fig. 2 on the-line 6-6, drawn on a larger scale, Fig. 7 is aseparated view of the eccentrie drive, and Fig. 8 is a sectional view ofFig. 7 on the line 88.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout.

Certain parts are broken away in order to show other parts hiddenthereby.

Additional positions of operative parts are shown in dotted lines.

More particularly: The inclosure in and on which the operative mechanismis mounted comprises frame members 9, front and rear sides respectively10 and 10, and fan housing 11.

12 is the lower riddle, it is longitudinal of the machine and inclinesupward from the front of the same. 12 is the bottom sieve of riddle 12,while it is easily removable it moves with said riddle. 12 is a brushscreen of coarser mesh than 12 separately movable on sieve 12 and undersieve 12, it comprises a frame with coarse wire net on both sides. 12 isa sieve in riddle 12' on top of sieve 12 and covering brush screen 12".Sieve 12 is of smaller mesh than brush screen 12 has no movements exceptwith r1ddle 12. 12 12 are two links pivoted to riddle 12 near its lowerend and to frame members 9. On said links the lower end of riddle 12 issuspended. 12 and 12 are respectively lower and upper spouts in thelower or front end of riddle 12. They are separated by partition 12 andspout 12 has which causes grain the diagonal baflie 12 passing throughit to be delivered to the right, while spout 12 has the diagonal baffle12 which causes grain passing through it to be delivered to the left,see Fig. 4. Grain passing over sieve 12 is delivered by spout 12 whilegrain passing over sieve 12 is delivered by spout 12*. 12 12 are twopins in the side rails of brush screen 12*.

They project outward and are engageable' with slots 26 in the lower endsof arms 26.

12 12 are notches in the side rails of sieve 12 to permlt the movementof pins 12 without moving said sieve. 12 12 are chafling plates in theupper corners of sieve 12. There are two similar plates on the lower endof said. sieve, not shown in Fig. 4. These plates afford slideways forbrush screen 12 V 1 13 is the middle riddle. It is longitudinal of themachine, and it inclines downward from its front, end. 13 is the sievein riddle 13 111 which it 1s normally fastened. 13 is an apron chutefastened on the bottom of riddle 18 and delivers grain passing throughsieve 12 to the upper. end of sieve 12. 13, 13", 18", 13 are four linkspivoted to riddle 13 and to frame members 9 and sides 10 and 10 tosuspend said riddle.

14 is the upper riddle which is disposed transversely of the machine,and inclines downward from the right-hand side of said machine. riddle14:; 14; is a brush screen suspended over sieve 1e. 14, 14:0 are holesin the lower rail of ,the frame of brush screen 1 1*. M

14's are two 2. links the lower ends of which.

are engaged with the forward and higher end of brush screen 14: and theupper ends of which engage in notches in the upper ends of standards14?, 1d fastened to the sides of riddle 1d. 14? is an apron chutefastened to the bottom of riddle 1 1 and delivers grain 14* is a sievenormally fastened inpassing through sieve 14 to the upper end 7 of sieve13- 15 is the bottom of the outlet of fan housing 11 and fills the wholewidth of the machine between sides 10 and 10 15" is the top of saidoutlet. 15 is a damper located to be an extension of 15. Said damper ishung on damper shaft 15 to which it is fastened by U straps, one ofwhich is shown at 15 in Fig. 1. Said damper shaft finds hearings inholes through sides and 10 and protrudes through side 10 where dampercrank is fastened to it. 15 is a hollow handle on crank 15. 15 15 arepins in side 10 in an are about shaft 15. Orank 15 is flexible andhandle 15 can be engaged with either of said pins to hold damper 15 in aposition to make as near a closure of said fan-housing outlet as thework being done by the machine may require.

16 is the hopper and sits on top of the machine exactly over riddle 14.16 is the bottom of said hopper and inclines downward ing a tapped holefastened to the top edge of the right-hand side of hopper 16. Gate screw29 is engaged in plate 16 16 is a bracket fastened to said gate near itsbottom having a hole with which the lower end'of screw 29 is engaged forrotation but can not be moved lengthwise'therein. 16 is a guide bracketfastened to said gate having a hole I through which said screw mayfreely pass.

17 is a shaft mounted in bearings 17*, 17 fastened to the front frame ofthe machine; On said shaft are fastened fan spiders 17 17 and to themarefastened fan arms 17 and in turn to said arms are fastened fan"paddles 17; Fan arms 17 are preferably bent as shown in Fig. 2 to causethe paddle of one arm to stand vertically in front of the fan housingoutlet when the next paddle in advance is passingthe cutoff at 15*, Fig.2. 17 e is a power pulley fastened to the rear protrudingendof shaft 1717 is a spur gear fastened to the front protruding end of shaft 17. Onshaft 17 inside of bearings 17 are fastened two eccentrics 17 only oneof which is shown in Fig.2.

18 isja driver gear mounted for revolution on stud 18 which is fastenedto frame 9 in a position to cause said gear to engage with spur gear 1718 is a handle fastened to gear 18. a

19 is a power lever the front end of which is shown at 19in Fig. 2. 1919 are notches in the upper edge of said lever near its-rear end. 19, 19are notchesin the bottom edge of said lever corresponding with notches19 19 is a short slideway bar fastened to 19. and parallel therewith byspacing bolts 19, 19. Between 19 and 19 revolves ec- 16 is a rubbercentric 17 the periphery of which is grooved to fit the V form upper andlower edges of 19 and 19 respectively. 19 is the rounded rear end ofsaid lever.

20 is a power lever similar in all respects tolever 19 above describedand mounted on the rear side of the machine,.and itsfro-nt end withslideway bar 20 forms parallel ways in which the other eccentricoperates.

21 is a fulcrum bolt, having a hook end 21, and is mounted in flangedbearing 21 in side 10. A separated enlarged view of this bolt is'shownin Fig. 6. One of the bottom notches 19 on lever 19 is engaged on top ofsaid bolt while hook 21 is engaged in the corresponding notch 19*. Saidbolt is held in operative position by a nut and rocks in bearing 21 aslever 19 is operated by eccentric 17 To change the bearing notch engagedwith bolt 21 said nut is backed off and said bolt is put in itsdottedposition shown in Fig. 6 when said lever can be shifted as desired andremounted on said bolt. Another similar fulcrum bolt is provided forlever 20 on which it is mounted in side 10. This bolt is notillustrated.

22 is a T crankmounted on bolt 22 which is placed in a flanged bushingin side 10. 22 is the stem of crank 22 and is bifurcated to receivetherounded rear end 19 of lever 19. The lower end of crank 22 is pivotedtothe right-hand side of riddle 12, near its rear end, by pin 22. upperend. of crank 22 is connected link 22 the other end of which isconnected to crank 24?. Below the upper end of crank 22 is a hole inwhich is pin 22 to connect said crank pivotally with the rear endof thefront side of riddle 13. I i

23 is a T crank in every way similar to In a hole in the crank 22 abovedescribed, its bifurcated stem is engaged with the rounded rear end oflever 20 and it is pivoted to side 10 by bolt 23. The lower andupperends of crank 23 suspend theleft-hand rear ends of rid dles 12 and 13respectively in the same manner as the right-hand rearends of theseriddles are suspended by crank 22 above described. Link 23 connects. theupper end.

of crank 23 with crank 25.

24 is a vertical crank shaft mounted in a hole in a'front horizontalframe member,

on its lower end is fastenedcrank24 and a crank on its upper end isengaged with and supports the upper end of transverse riddle 1 1.

25-is a vertical crank shaft mounted in a hole in a rear side horizontalframe member to the lower end of which is fastened crank 25 and to'theupper end of which isfastened crank 25 Incrank 25 is a row of holes 25.

end, and they hang downward from said riddle. Each of said arms has anopen slot in its lower end with which one of pins '12 engages when brushscreen 12 is in operative position.

27 is a link one end of which is formed into a hookto engage with staplel6 in hopper door 16, and the. other end of which is bent down at aright angle and passes through one of holes 14 in the lower rail ofbrush screen 14 and also through one of holes 25 in crank 25.

29 is a screw having hand crank 29 and is used to operate hopper gate16" as previously described.

30 is a screen chute fastened transversely beneath the lower 'end ofriddle 12 and inclined downward from its right-hand end.

Its bottom iscovered with screen 30. 80 is a reversed chute fastenedbeneath the lower end of screen 30 to turn the seed passing through theleft-hand end of said screen back toward the right. 30 is an openingthrough the entire width of the bottom of riddle 12 to providean inletinto chute 30.

In operation: Power may be applied to pulley 17 or by hand to handle 18to revolve shaft 17. The revolution of said shaft operates fan 17 andcauses a current of air to pass out of the fan-housing outlet from whereit moves over the upper end of the sieves in riddle 12, through the seedfalling from riddle 18 to riddle 12 and thence out of the machine. Thevolume and pressure of this air current are controlled by the rate offan revolution and by the set of damper 15.

The Op ration of shaft 17 also causes eccentrics 17 17 g to produceoscillations in the rear ends of levers l9 and 20. Thus cranks 22 and 23are caused to rock on bolts 22 and 7 23 respectively which producesrelatively opposite vibrations in riddles l2 and 13, opposite vibrationsin sieves 12 or 12 as compared to vibrating brush screen 12 andrelatively opposite vibrations in sieve 14 and brush screen 14*. Hopperdoor 16 is also caused to vibrate by the same power in unison with theother operative parts. The amplitude of the vibrations of these severalmoving parts is varied by moving levers 19 and 20 to bring another notchin engagement with bolts 21. The amplitude of the movements of brushscreen 14 and hopper door l6 is also varied by engaging the lower end oflink 27 with another hole in screen frame 14 and crank 14. The amount ofseed permitted to flow from hopper 16 is further varied by the set ofgate 16 The operation of brush screen 14?, the meshes in which are toosmall to allow seed to pass therethrough, alternately compresses andreleases, rolls, and advances the mixture of chaff, broken straw,detritus and seed, allowing said seed opportunity to settle through themixture and reach and pass through sieve M before said mass passesout atthe rear side of the machine. In the ordi nary separator theaccomplishment of'this object so completely when there is a considerablebulk of detritus has proved difli cult. I

'Brush screen 12 checks the free flow of seeds overscreen 12 aids inkeeping the same clean and isefl'ective in separating oats from shortergrains, and in making a close grading of seeds according to the size ofthe gra ns.

The use of wide hopper door 16 in conjunction with hopper gate 16* givesa better control of the entry of the mixture of seeds and detritus intothe machine than has hitherto been possible.

Rubber strip 16 on the lower edge of gate 16 is required to preventbruising-and cracking seed between the hopper door and gate when theyare set-to :bring said door close to said gate during operation of "theyformer.

The inclination of fan paddles 1-7 to fan arms 17 causes amore'e'fiective drive of air into the fan outlet than is possible withthe usual radial position of said paddles.

By placing power levers 19'and 20 within the inclosure, rather than onthe outside as usual, a greater protection from injury is had and moreconvenientconnections with interior parts are possible than the usualarrangement permits of.

y arrangement of old devices and new inthis machine makes it welladapted to accomplish the objectsintended.

, Having thus fully'di-sclosed my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is, Y

1. In combination, a seed receptacle, means todraw seed from saidreceptacle in a wide stream, means to control the volume of said flowingseed, a shakable seed sieve below said receptacle, means to vibrate saidsieve rapidly in short arcs, means to change the amplitude of said arcsof vibration, a brush screen mounted above said sieve, means to causethe front end of said brush screen to vibrate rapidly in an arc of shortlength and the rear end of the same to vibrate in a plane, saidmovements timed with those of said sieve but. in an opposite direction,and means to change the amplitude of the vibrations of said brushscreen.

2. In combination the shaft of a seed separator blower; a pair ofeccentric disks fastened on said shaft; a pair of fulcrumed levers eachhaving a slideway frame for one of said eccentrics on one end and a knobon the other end, said slideway frame mounted on said eccentric and saidknob engaged with the bifurcated stem of a T crank; a fulcrum for eachof said levers; means to mount each of said levers on its fulcrum; apair of T cranks pivoted for oscillation, each having a bifurcated stemengaged with one of the knob ends of said levers; two registeringriddles, one above the other and one end of the lower riddle suspendedfrom the lower ends of said T cranks and one end of the upper of saidriddles suspended from the upper ends of said T cranks; a pair of armsfastened to the sides of said upper riddle extending downward withinsaid lower riddle; a sieve in said lower riddle movable therewith; and abrush screen in said lower riddle, slidable on top of said sieve,engaged with the lower ends of said arms.

3. In combination, the shaft of a seed separator blower; a pair ofeccentric disks fastened to said shaft; a pair of fulcrumed levers eachhaving a slideway frame for one of said eccentrics on one end and a knobon the other end, said slideway frame mounted on said eccentric and saidknob engaged with the bifurcated stem of a T crank; a fulcrum for eachof said levers; means to mount said levers on said fulcrums at any oneof several points on the same; a pair of 'F cranks each pivoted foroscillation and each having a bifurcated stem engaged with 7 one of theknob ends of said levers; two registering riddles, one above the otherand one end of the lower riddle suspended from the lower ends of said Tcranks and one end of the upper riddle suspended from the upper ends ofsaid T cranks; a pair of arms fastened to the sides of said upper riddleand extending down into said lower riddle; a sieve in said lower riddlemovable therewith; and a brush screen in said lower riddle, slidable ontop of said sieve, and engaged with the lower ends'of said arms.

. l. In combination, the shaft 7 of a seedseparator blower, powerconnections between said shaft and a pair of oscillatable cranks, a pairof vertical oscillatable cranks pivoted at their middle, a lowerlongitudinal riddle, a middle longitudinal riddle, an upper transverseriddle, suspension means for one end of each of said riddles, pivotalconnections between the lower ends of said pair of cranks and the otherend of said lower riddle, pivotal connections between the upper ends ofsaid pair of cranks and the other end of said middle riddle, and powerconnections between the upper end of one of said cranks and the otherend of said upper riddle.

5. In combination, the shaft of a seed 7 separator blower, powerconnections between said shaft and a pair of T cranks pivoted at theirmiddle with their top members vertical, a pair of T cranks, oscillatableabout a central pivot, a lower longitudinal riddle the upper end ofwhich is pivotally connected to the lower ends of said T cranks, amiddle longitudinal riddle the lower end of which is connected to theupper ends of said T cranks, an upper transverse riddle the upperend ofwhich is connected through a crank and connecting rod to the upper endof one of said T cranks, an independently shakable brush screen in saidupper riddle, connections between said upper-riddle brush screen and theupper end of the other T crank, through a crank and connecting rod, anindependently shakable brush screen in said lower riddle, and powerconnections between said lower-riddle brush screen and said middleriddle.

WILLIAM V. VAN ETTEN.

